Hundreds of emails about flags in the city centre have been sent to Edinburgh councillors on Thursday and copied to media outlets.
The Edinburgh Reporter has received more than 600 such emails in the space of a few hours on Thursday morning.
The content of all of the emails is exactly the same, although the subject line is changed in some cases, indicating it is a concerted effort to attract the council’s attention.
The complaint concerns combined Palestinian and Saltire flags which have been attached to lampposts in the city centre. In the emails three streets are named – Broughton Street, London Road and Leith Walk, and on Thursday morning The Edinburgh Reporter discovered one flag attached to a lamppost at the junction of The Mound and Market Street.
The emails, which appear to come from individuals but have no contact details on them, are addressed to ward councillors in Wards 11, 12 and 14 in the capital and copied to media. They suggest that there is “genuine distress” among Jewish residents “many of whom are feeling increasingly uncomfortable and unsafe in their own neighbourhoods as a direct result of these displays”.
The emails demand that the council reply in writing about the use of public assets in political campaigning, and ask when they will be removed or alternatively if permission was given to use the lampposts in this way
The emails claim that the Gaza Genocide Emergency Committee is behind the flags and we have asked that organisation for comment.
A City of Edinburgh Council spokesperson said: “Attachments to street furniture can only be made with the permission of the Council. These flags do not have such permission and will be removed in due course.”
Council action
Cllr Chas Booth proposed an emergency motion to Edinburgh Council last month to ask for the removal of any flags in Edinburgh. Some had been put up on Calder Road. Council workers said they had been the target of violence when taking them down, as highlighted to the council by the Edinburgh TUC (ETUC).
At that time councillors had been advised of anything up to 60 flags which had been secured to lampposts. The flags on display then were mainly Saltires and Lion Rampants.
But the Leith councillor said to us on Thursday morning that his motion did not specify which particular flags were affected. His concern is principally that any flags on lampposts are a threat to public safety.
He said: “Flags should not be placed on lampposts, no matter which flags. They pose a threat to public safety and should be removed.” He said last month that any attempt to “make immigrants or minorities feel unwelcome” in Edinburgh was wrong.
After a first attempt at having his motion heard Cllr Booth resubmitted it for discussion at the full council meeting last month.
He said then that he was glad many of the flags had been taken down overnight and praised council workers for that.
But he said that as to the remainder of the flags: “Some are still up and we still need action to bring the remainder down. Every day that they are intimidating people of colour is a day too long. I’m still extremely concerned that it took seven weeks.”
He welcomed the deputations from Edinburgh Trades Union Council and Stand Up to Racism, but said that he is really concerned that the council staff should be able to “do their jobs without being exposed to the risk of physical assault or intimidation.”
Police Scotland
There were reports of intimidation when the flags were being removed by council workers as highlighted by ETUC. It is alleged that one worker was threatened with having his throat slit.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said in October: “Around 10.30am on Sunday, 5 October, 2025, we received a report of a man threatened by another man in the Calder Road area of Edinburgh. Enquiries are ongoing.”
Police Scotland have been asked for any update.
Cllr Booth’s motion read:
- Proposed Action/Decision
- Council:
- 1) Reiterates the existing clear prohibition under the Street Lighting Management Arrangements of attaching anything to street lighting columns within the Edinburgh Council area without the council’s permission, for road safety and amenity reasons, and notes the council has powers under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to enforce this, but that residents are free to fly flags from private property, so long as relevant planning and other regulations are observed;
- 2) Notes that a number of flags have appeared on lampposts around Edinburgh in recent weeks in contravention of this prohibition; notes this appears to have been inspired by the far-right ‘Raise the Colours’ campaign; notes that it appears to be an attempt to intimidate immigrants, asylum seekers and those from ethnic minorities; condemns unequivocally any attempt to make immigrants or minorities feel unwelcome in Edinburgh and reiterates once again that Edinburgh is and must remain a diverse and welcoming city where immigrants, asylum seekers and those from ethnic minorities must always feel safe and at home;
- 3) Agrees that any delay to removing flags attached to lampposts in contravention of the council’s policy risks making minority groups feel unwelcome, and risks undermining community cohesion, and is therefore unacceptable;
- 4) Notes that activists from Stand Up to Racism have been threatened with violence for attempting to remove flags, while council workers or contractors have been assaulted or intimidated for removing flags in other parts of the country;
- 5) Condemns unequivocally any threat to anyone enforcing council policy on flags on lampposts, and calls for anyone with evidence of these threats to report this to Police Scotland; further calls for anyone with evidence to suggest which individuals are affixing these items to lampposts to report this to Police Scotland to allow enforcement action to be taken;
- 6) Agrees that the safety and security of council staff and contractors is paramount, and therefore agrees that senior staff should not issue management directives to council staff to undertake the work of removing flags from lampposts, but rather will hold talks with workers and trade unions and will ensure that the requisite measures are urgently put in place to ensure the health and safety of council staff or contractors doing their jobs and allow council staff or contractors to undertake this essential task in full confidence that they will not be exposed to the risk of physical … view the full agenda text for item 8.6
